A two-year-old girl in Chengdu, China, was mauled by a rottweiler despite her mother’s desperate attempts to fend off the dog’s attack, leaving the toddler with severe injuries.

The horrific incident lasted a mere 40 seconds on Monday morning, but caused the child to be admitted into the intensive care unit with a ruptured kidney, fractured ribs and lacerations all over her body.

The owner of the unleashed rottweiler was arrested on early Tuesday morning. Another dog owner, whose unleashed labrador was present during the unprovoked attack, was also arrested.

From closed-circuit television footage of the incident posted on YouTube, the rottweiler is seen wandering around a residential compound on its own.

The mother and child then walk out of an apartment building, and the dog watches them from a distance. The mother backs away while using her body to shield the toddler from the dog as it approaches them.

However, the canine suddenly lunges forward, circles them and snatches the girl from her mother, causing the latter to fall to the ground.

The child is then repeatedly dragged across the compound as her mother and the rottweiler try to wrest the child out from each other’s grasp.

Two cleaners are seen rushing to the duo’s aid with long mops in hand as the labrador also approaches the scene, although it does not join the attack.

The three adults finally manage to scare off the dogs with the mops.

The child is in a stable condition.

Her mother, Ms Deng, said she was taking her daughter to kindergarten when the brutal attack occurred.

“The dog was very large, but its fur was very clean and it was very fat. It’s likely someone’s pet,” she said.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.